Knowledge & Insights

In our 30 June 2023 update titled Records of Arbitrators’ Deliberations to be Produced Only in Very Rarest of Cases, Singapore International Commercial Court Rules on the decision of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) in CZT v CZU [2023] SGHC(I) 11, we highlighted the SICC’s ruling on the confidentiality of records of arbitrators’ deliberations and the high threshold to be crossed before a court would order the production of such records, with the SICC emphasising that such production orders should only be made in “the very rarest of cases”.

In those proceedings, we acted for the defendant and successfully resisted the plaintiff’s application for disclosure of the tribunal’s deliberations in support of its application to set aside an award against the plaintiff (Final Award) issued by a 2-1 majority of the tribunal in an arbitration commenced by the defendant against the plaintiff.

The SICC has, in CZT v CZU [2023] SGHC(I) 22, now dismissed the plaintiff’s setting aside application. This latest decision reaffirms the high bar to be met by any party seeking to challenge an arbitral award and clarifies that an allegation of apparent bias on the part of an arbitrator should not be lightly made.

Our Partners Koh Swee Yen, SC and Alessa Pang and Associates Claire Lim, Samuel Teo and Shawn Ang acted for the successful defendant in resisting the application to set aside the Final Award.

This update takes a look at the SICC’s decision.

If you would like information and/or assistance on the above or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:

KOH Swee Yen, Senior Counsel
Head – International Arbitration
Partner – Commercial & Corporate Disputes
d +65 6416 6876
e sweeyen.koh@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Swee Yen’s CV.

Alessa PANG
Partner – Commercial & Corporate Disputes
d +65 6416 8107
e alessa.pang@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Alessa’s CV.